According to a Tuesday afternoon story in the Oregonian, the revamped PGE Park will have a soccer capacity of about 17k. Interestingly, this is similar to the current capacity even though the renovation will add about 5,000 seats. According to the story, 5,000 existing seats will be blocked off for games and used either for advertising or other display purposes. Because of predictions that 17k will suffice for soccer crowds, this will allow Portland to keep the “worst” seats blocked off, although they will be available for bigger events. For more on Portland’s stadium efforts, click here.

We wrote a few weeks back about the lawsuit brought against DC United by two gentlemen seeking a commission from the introduction of VW as a sponsor. While the lawsuit contained some interesting business tidbits about the business of MLS, the real action in the lawsuit is now just starting. As of today, the summons has been “returned to court” and thus a deadline of October 5 has been set for DC United to reply. A copy of the Complaint was served upon Michael Williamson, the CFO of Macfarlane Chang DC Soccer on September 14 by a private process server. As of yet, no attorneys have appeared on behalf of DC United. We will continue to monitor the case as it moves forward.

Finally, the Salt Lake Tribune ran a story about Dave Checketts’ thoughts on operating a sports franchise in this climate. While the story does not focus on RSL, it does give an interesting perspective on how Checketts thinks a team ought to operate when times are tough. The piece also notes that RSL attendance is up about 8% this year.